A ‘Difficult Separation’ for Villa Terrace, Charles Allis Museums

Charles Allis Art Museum (top) Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum (bottom).

The Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum and the Charles Allis Art Museum will likely be legally separated on January 1, ending more than a decade of operation by a single entity.

For years, the two museums have been operated by a non-profit  — Charles Allis Villa Terrace, Inc. (CAVT) — on a handshake deal with Milwaukee County, which owns both the buildings and the art collections therein. Now the two museums are being separated and the CAVT is losing control over Villa Terrace and the revenue it generates, which helps fund the nonprofit’s operations at the Charles Allis.

The Milwaukee County Board’s Committee on Parks and Culture approved the terms of a deal that will separate the museums, transfer their ownership to non-profits and eventually sever the county’s financial obligations to them.

Both public museums began as private homes and art collections. They were bequeathed to the county, directly or indirectly, during the second half of the 20th century. In recent years, county policymakers have not kept up with the mounting maintenance needs of the buildings. The county has a backlog of infrastructure projects and maintenance that has been estimated a $1 billion.

In 2023, the county board moved to re-evaluate its relationship with the institutions, adding an amendment to the budget asking the county administration to provide a range of options for maintaining or severing financial obligations.

A number of proposals came out of the process. The Friends of Villa Terrace, a non-profit founded in 1990 to fundraise and program for the museum, came forward with a strong desire to take over control and operations of that museum if the county provided funding to support maintenance and operations during a transition period.

CAVT initially proposed maintaining the status quo with the county providing $10 million for maintenance of the Allis Museum and eventually stepping down its operating support. The proposal did not fare well with county officials “due to the unrealistic capital request, the length of continued operational support, lack of fundraising goals, and no clear end to the County’s investment,” according to a report at the time.

The non-profit eventually revised its position and asked the county to negotiate with it for an eventual transfer of the Charles Allis after three years.

Now, after some negotiating, the county has reached an agreement with both groups to split the museums up and give CAVT some runway funding and a few years to fundraise and prepare to take control of the museum, as Urban Milwaukee previously reported. Both organizations will be given an option to purchase the buildings, as well as funding to support the transition.

CAVT will be given a one-year lease with an option to purchase during that year. If the group does not exercise the option by 2026, the county will transfer the building and the collection to the Friends of Villa Terrace, which will sell the building and use the proceeds to maintain the collection.

The friends group is being given a three year lease and option to purchase. The county also placed a contingency on the sale requiring the friends group to raise approximately $1.2 million for maintenance and another $500,000 for a reserve fund. Additionally, if at any time the friends group does not maintain public access, or sells to an entity that does not maintain public access, it will have to pay the county the fair market value for the property.

The friends group is prepared to take over the building beginning in January, members Barbara Velez and Doug Rose told the board.

“We’re ready to move forward, and we’re anxious to finalize the negotiations,” Rose said.

CAVT board members were less enthusiastic.

Marilu Knode, a CAVT board member, told supervisors she abstained from voting for the deal when the non-profit took it up and continued to ask the county for at least three years to fundraise for a transition.

“I hope that this, this board, will actually allow us to have the same amount of time to make us really very sustainable, because I believe in Allis, I think it tells a great story,” Knode said. 

Marquayla Ellison, a member of the CAVT Board, is acting as interim executive director while Jaymee Harvey Willms is on maternity leave. She told supervisors the organization is in talks with a private donor who may provide the museum $100,000 in 2025. The organization is only receiving half of the annual amount budgeted to support the two institutions in 2025, given that it will only be in charge of one of them.

“So with the support of the Milwaukee County Supervisors, we are confident of our ability to achieve these ambitious goals and ensure that the Allis thrives as a cultural cornerstone,” Ellison said. 

The majority of the funding used to run CAVT’s operations comes from revenue generated at Villa Terrace. What’s more, it’s a cash operation that uses rental deposits from events at Villa Terrace to fund its annual budget, as Erica Goblet, county Economic Development Project Manager, explained to supervisors.

“It was, it is, a difficult separation,” she added.

CAVT board members have said the organization needs to rebuild its board to support a fundraising mission.

Speaking to supervisors Monday, Barbara Velez, who is leading the friends group’s capital campaign for the Villa Terrace takeover, said she has worked with non-profits for 30 years and their boards have always been primarily focused on fundraising, “And Villa Terrace is no different in its goals.”

While CAVT, the friends group and the county have reached an agreement, it was not entirely painless.

“We came into this thinking it’s going to be a fight, and it kind of was,” Rose said. 

The term sheet for the deal includes a stipulation that “CAVT and its employees agree not to in any way slander or injure the business reputation or goodwill of FOVT.”

Communication between the two organizations is also faltering. Knode suggested the friends group did not plan to honor all the private event contracts CAVT currently held. The contracts run into 2026, according to Goblet. Velez said the friends group has not said they won’t accept some contracts.

“But as any professional person would acknowledge you don’t accept a contract carte blanche without seeing the contract.” Velez said. “And despite repeated requests, we have not been given these contracts to review what the parameters are, what the timing is, how much money CAVT has actually withheld from deposits, etcetera.”

Goblet concurred that it was her understanding the friends group intends to honor all the contracts, once they see them.

Existing members must be signed in to see the interactive map. Sign in.